'Splice' Moves Out of Gestation

The co-writer and director of the 1997 thriller Cube, and recently one of the directors of Paris, je t'aime, Vincenzo Natali, is finally getting his next science fiction project off the ground. Splice was originally set to be an animated feature that he tried to get going for $20 million. That fell through, and now he's gearing up to make it a live-action feature with the help of visual effects houses in Paris, Toronto and Berkeley, California. What makes the deal even sweeter -- the film is being executive produced by Angry Bulls, which is the production shingle of Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Guillermo del Toro.

Natali, who wrote the script with Antoinette Terry Bryan and Doug Taylor, has described Splice as "the Bonnie and Clyde of genetics." The film centers on two young scientists and genetic engineers who become famous when they splice different animal DNA to create a bunch of new, fantastical creatures. Of course, once they've dipped their toes in, they want to dive in, so they ignore legal and ethical boundaries and start adding human DNA to the experiment. So, obviously, the effects come in with the need to see the collection of hybrid creatures that the scientists create. There's definitely no reason not to be live-action, since effects can create just about any creature we can scheme up. The team is currently bringing together its cast, and the film will shoot this summer in Toronto.